State of the Union

 By Florida Bill 

                                              President Trump's first SOTU address was memorable but not necessarily for its content which was inspiring and patriotic.  But an overhead TV camera revealed the bizarre and testy behavior of his congressional adversaries who snarled and mugged  and grimaced as he spoke.  
                               It would not have been too surprising to see some of the veteran Democrats sticking out their tongues or raising a special finger as a way of conveying their ill will to the nation's 45th President. 
                               So carried away were the Trump haters, that an entire row of Democrats refused to stand in sympathy for a family whose two daughters were murdered in Long Island by members of a notorious gang, known as MS-13. 
                                Congressional Black Caucus members glowered and gritted their teeth and declined to stand and applaud when the President reported that in response to his policies, unemployment in the Black community was the lowest ever recorded.  
                                 New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker just scowled in anger at each word and phrase of the President's. He appeared to be on the verge of a tantrum and the banging of his shinny pate on a chair in front of him, but somehow contained himself. After all, he is sending out vibes that he wants to run for President in 2020.                                         Nancy Pelosi, the long time California representative who is a former speaker of the House, sent her message of opposition by declining to applaud even when the country's 45th President hailed the USA as a beacon of freedom in the world; a nation which has set the standard for goodness on a globe where there are terrorists hellbent on killing Americans.
                                 Decked out in a black dress with a page-boy hairdo, the 77-year-old Pelosi appeared to be chewing a substance and rolling it in her mouth from one cheek to the other.  Was it gum, or food crumbs; a lozenge or possibly a loose bridge?  Whatever, it emphasized a very, very sour face, loaded for bear.  And she was successful in communicating her disdain and enmity for the president on behalf of herself and other Democrats who find that the nation's chief executive is set against their liberal philosophy and their calls for amnesty.                                   
                                   Never to be out stressed by the President's comments on matters of border security and a wall, and the economy and tax reform was "Cry'n Chuck" Schumer, the minority leader in the Senate whose unscrupulous intransigence caused a brief government shutdown in late January.
                                    Some months ago, Trump gave Schumer the name of "Cry'n Chuck" when Schumer wept in public after hearing the President was seeking to ban entry into the USA of refugees who could be terrorists and who needed to be vetted before being allowed to enter. A racist, screamed Schumer.   His tears must have really rolled out when the U.S. Supreme court ultimately endorsed the ban, and agreed with the President. 
                                     During the address, the 67-year-old Schumer was captured by the swinging TV camera burying his head in his hands, seemingly trying to hold back his tears. It was apparently so difficult for the Democratic leader in the Senate to agree with President Trump, even when he spoke of his plan to protect 1.8 million undocumented citizens, including DACA children, that he had to hide his face. 
                                      Even Trump's proposal that  Democrats and Republicans work together to create effective border security and total and permanent comprehensive immigration reform seemed to provoke such painful emotions that Democrats were unable to even clap politely much less smile or nod. 
                                       The cameras zeroed in on other Trump critics.  One was the combative, mouthy Illinois congressman, Luis Gutierrez, from Chicago.  He earned his Democratic spurs while driving a cab and then served as an alderman in the Chicago city council.  He was elected to congress in 1993 from the city's notorious, crime infested west side, and reelected about a dozen more times. Of Puerto Rican heritage, he was a "pull all stops" supporter of President Obama, and a voice for Latinos and wide open borders.  But most importantly, he is a fierce denouncer of President Trump as a racist, and a Russian pawn.
                                       When the camera focused upon Gutierrez, he was grinding his teeth together in apparent disgust.  As the President was speaking there arose loud chanting of "USA, USA, USA."  That sort of Pro-Trump approval, was more than Gutierrez could handle. He hustled from his seat and headed for an exit from the auditorium of the Capitol. Later, asked his opinion of the address, he said "whoever translated it for him from Russian did a good job," a comment as silly as you might expect from a Chicago style, far left, Democrat who takes his orders from Ms. Pelosi. 
                                        Vermont Democrat Sen. Patrick Leahy, in the Senate since 1975, also is aggressive in his animosity for Republicans and specifically for the new President.  The camera captured him glowering and staring at the president as he spoke and congratulated himself for having pushed the African American unemployment rate to its lowest level in many years. Leahy doesn't buy it.  He later commented that Trump has had a year of making petty insults and disgraceful race baiting.  His words "ring hollow."                                                   
                                         All in all, Republicans and even some Democrats  gave  Trump high marks for his first SOTU address. But you wonder what the President would have to say or do to encourage his critics to at least act like adults and show some respect for the office and the time and place.  

                                                   xxx